Should Have Looked Away by Philip Cox Page A

Will and Dan time to get back from work. It was only a short cab ride to Dan and Jia’s place.
    Chrissy had taken a shower late afternoon, and was almost ready; now she was getting Louise ready. Both she and Will had given up on getting Jake to take a shower too: after all, he would be retreating into Clyde’s bedroom at the first opportunity.
    After showering, Will got dressed in a white polo shirt and beige pants. ‘Right, almost ready,’ he muttered, looking around the bedroom.
    ‘We’re almost ready down here,’ Chrissy called out from downstairs.
    ‘Where the…’ Will muttered, still looking around. Standing in the bedroom doorway, he called out to Chrissy. ‘Honey? You seen my wallet?’
    ‘Your what?’
    ‘My wallet. I had it up here, on the dresser.’
    ‘It’s not down here.’
    ‘It must be,’ Will mumbled, and looked around again. He lifted up the clothes he had worn during the day from the chair over which he had flung them and saw the wallet on the chair. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he muttered and pushed it into his pocket.
    ‘Did you find it?’ Chrissy asked as Will got downstairs.
    ‘It was on the chair, by my clothes. Why can’t you leave things alone?’
    ‘I didn’t touch your wallet.’
    ‘You must have done. I left it on the dresser.’
    ‘You couldn’t have done. You left it on the chair, where you always dump your clothes, so I can put them into the laundry.’
    ‘No, I left it on the dresser, before I got into the shower.’
    Chrissy shook her head. ‘Whatever. Where’s Jake?’
    ‘I’m coming,’ came Jake’s tired voice as he followed Will downstairs.
    ‘Great. Let’s go,’ Will said. ‘We still need to find a cab.’
    ‘And that’s so easy on a Friday night,’ Chrissy replied as they left the house, Will locking and bolting the front door. ‘I’ve done the back, by the way, before you ask,’ she added.
    ‘If we can’t get a cab,’ Will said, ‘we could always walk.’
    ‘Walk?’ exclaimed Jake. ‘But they live miles away. Can’t we take the car?’
    ‘Not exactly miles: half an hour, tops. And we can’t take the car: Mom and I want to drink. Anyway, there’s one there. Taxi!’ He rushed into the street to hail the cab.

EIGHTEEN
    Dan and Jia Gleave lived in a condo on Elizabeth Street, which straddles Chinatown and Little Italy. Their building was on the corner of Hester Street, at the Chinatown end of Elizabeth. The commissionaire at the entrance called up, and showed them into the elevator. As they were whisked up to Dan’s floor, Will always wondered how his friend and partner managed to afford this place. Maybe Jia’s family had money.
    ‘Hey guys,’ Dan said as he opened the condo door for them. ‘Come in.’ He greeted Chrissy and Louise with a kiss and Will with a handshake. To Jake he said, ‘How’s it going, Jake? Clyde’s in his room.’
    Jia was in the kitchen, chopping up peppers. She greeted Will, Chrissy and Louise.
    ‘Something smells nice,’ Chrissy said.
    ‘I’m making seafood Cajun gumbo.’
    ‘Mm, lovely,’ Chrissy said. ‘Need any help?’
    Jia passed Chrissy a knife. ‘I hope you all like,’ she said to Will.
    ‘I’m sure we will.’
    ‘I like to have a break from the norm now and again,’ Jia said. ‘Dan doesn’t always find Chinese food filling. He seems to be hungry an hour later.’
    Will looked over at Dan, who nodded in agreement. Will smiled slightly, recalling the old joke he heard in High School that if a guy has sex with a Chinese girl, he can get a hard-on half an hour later.
    ‘Beer? Wine?’ Dan asked. Will took a beer.
    The condo was open plan, and while Jia, Chrissy and Louise were in the kitchen area, Dan and Will wandered over to the other corner. Through the wide, full length window, Will could take in the view of Lower Manhattan, with the silhouette of  One World Trade Center against the setting sun. He momentarily reflected on how different the view was when he first moved to New York and